Patti's Pen & Picks is about books. This blog will include books I have read; mostly those I have enjoyed, but possibly some I have not, readalikes and author appearances. I love to talk and write about books and love to hear from those who feel the same!

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

An Interview with Deborah Coonts, author of LUCKY CATCH

Hello All!I'm very excited to be a "stop" on Deborah Coonts' blog tour for her new book, LUCKY CATCH!!! This is the fifth book in her Lucky O'Toole series set in Las Vegas. I've thoroughly enjoyed this series from the beginning, which is Wanna Get Lucky?This blog post includes an interview, and a e-giveaway at the end--please use the comments area after the end of the post to win a copy of LUCKY CATCH!

I started out with a few questions borrowed from the Book Brahmin questionnaire from Shelf Awareness:

On your nightstand now:

The Book of Life, by Deborah Harkness ( I HAVE to see what happens!), Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, Power Play by Catherine Coulter, Me Before You by Jojo Moyes and one titled Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore…I grew up in Texas and have intimate knowledge of many, many Dairy Queens Although I can’t say I’ve looked for salvation there. Perhaps that’s what I’ve been doing wrong.

Favorite book when you were a child:

The Moonspinners….okay, everything by Mary Stewart. And I loved horses so Marguerite Henry was a must—I still have all the first editions. And then there was Johnny Tremain and Phantom Tollbooth…. Seriously, you want me to pick ONE???? Impossible.

Book you're an evangelist for:

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Gothic, moody, evocative, the story is pitch-perfect.

And my Lucky books…. If I don’t like them, I’ve got a real problem.

Favorite line from a book:

Love and lust—two four-letter words men often confuse.

I wrote that one—it leads off the next Lucky book, LUCKY CATCH, out August 26th.

I’m a sucker for a good first line…..

Which character you most relate to:

Probably Lucky. As my aunt so succinctly put it, Lucky is the woman I always hoped to be.

And now, a few questions from me:

What are your favorite things about Las Vegas?

The total silliness of the place. Where else is it ho-hum to stop at a light only to have a gaggles of six-foot tall young women dressed in g-strings and feathers cross in front of you? Or go to a bar that is holding a contest with the grand prize being a boob job?

Probably most of all though, I love the emphasis on happiness, having a good time, and being totally non-judgmental.

The food’s pretty darn amazing as well…..and then there are the concerts….

Have you ever had a job like Lucky’s?

No, but wouldn’t it be fun? Something different every day? Exhausting, but energizing.

I want to say that one of my favorite things about Lucky is that, for the most part, she is smart about making sure that people know where she’s going—she doesn’t go to the cemetery at midnight to meet a murderer. She’s safe with most of her investigating. Was this a goal for you when you started writing this series?

Thank you! I have a real problem with the portrayal of women as inept and liable to do really dumb things. We all make mistakes, but hopefully, we don’t do really stupid things intentionally. If the female protagonist in any book does something really dumb to put herself in harm’s way, I will throw the book across the room. I don’t know any women who would go by themselves at midnight to meet the murderer. And, if a fictional woman does that and bad things happen, I sorta figure she asked for it.

When I set out to write Lucky, I wanted to write about somebody I’d like to know, somebody like my friends—competent, capable, pretty smart, hard-working, and yet, often times confounded by human behavior, especially of the male variety.

I’m working on a new series now (yes, I’ll keep writing Lucky for a bit) where there are no dead bodies…at least not yet I’m having a great time…it’s set in Napa, so my research has been fabulous The series will be straight women’s fiction/contemporary romance--that’s where my heart lies.

And there will be no vapid, inept women….except when it comes to men, of course But aren’t we all a little stupid when it comes to love?

Thank you, Deborah, for answering the questions above, and for having terrific and interesting answers! This has been fun for me, and hopefully fun for you.

Deborah has very kindly offered to give away an e-book copy of her new book, LUCKY CATCH. To enter the contest, please leave a comment below. The contest will close on Thursday, September 4, at 5:00 PM Pacific Time, and a name will be drawn on Friday, September 5.